Bad Science: Unforgivable Inventions
by SimonSeville27
Summary: When Simon and Jeanette's invention brings tragedy to the Seville and Miller households, will they be able to move on?  A tale of Tragedy, Family, Romance and Comedy, this is the first book of several in the Bad Science series.
1. The Day of Truth

**Bad Science: Unforgivable Inventions**

A/N: Thank you for reading my first FanFiction story. If people like this story, I plan on doing some sequels to it. Make sure to pay attention to everything written in bold as the the POV and the time are extremely important.

Thank you again for reading my story. Please let me know what you think of this story, and also let me know what you would think of a sequel.

**Chapter 1: The Day of Truth**

**Jeanette's POV**

**The day of the ceremony.**

I hadn't left his side since it happened. I couldn't. We both felt responsible for what had happened. Knowing how we feel about each other, we couldn't leave each other's side. Maybe it was because we couldn't stand the silence. Or maybe it was because we were afraid of what people may think when they found out the truth. We always knew what we had to do, but we knew it would take each other's strength to get through what we were about to do.

That morning the two of us did exactly what we had done every day since it occurred. We woke up early in the morning, not from a bed, but from a pile of junk in the basement. Nobody else could ever figure out why we insisted on staying down there. The two of us knew. It was to remind us. It was so that we would never forget.

After we woke up, we got dressed, ate and held each other, crying into each other's shoulders out of anticipation for what we were about to do, and regret of what we had already done. I always thought the week that I admitted my love for Simon would be the happiest time of my life. I now know that this was a fantasy. Of course, nobody could have anticipated what that time would have been like. Of course, nobody could have anticipated it, because it was never supposed to have happened. Never.

To this day, I'm not quite sure what we thought we were going to achieve by it, but we knew we had to do it. We knew most of our friends and family wouldn't believe us. There was just one person though, that we had to make sure understood what truly happened. We had to make sure David understood that we were responsible.

Most people have the comfort of being able to move on with their lives, knowing that they cannot change the past. We do not have that comfort. We will never move on.

I always thought things like science and my ethics would help me through tough times. For the first time ever, science and professional ethics caused my tough times. Nobody understood our sudden bitterness for science, maybe we also hoped that they would start to understand after today.

Of course our science teacher was particularly baffled by it. What do you expect when her two top students suddenly cannot get themselves to do any work? She thought it was just an odd reaction to what had happened. We knew it was more than that. Stopping our involvement in science was our way of preventing anything like this from occurring again.

"Are you ready?" Simon asked me.

"No. But I'm never going to be ready for this. You know it won't be easy?"

Simon looked up at me. "I know, but it is something we have to do."

It was a fairly small ceremony. Some close friends and family. Maybe it just seemed small because of who was missing. I just know I couldn't feel anything but regret.

He walked up in front of the crowd. It was his worst nightmare. Obviously he was used to speaking to large crowds, but not like this, not about this.

"No parent should have to bury his child. This is a sentiment that has wrung through my mind these past few days. But for me the truth of what has happened is even more horrendous than this statement can portray, because I have the burden of burying two of my children, and their closest friends. Brittney, Eleanor, Theodore and Alvin, may you rest in peace."

Holding his head down, David Seville managed to form one last sentence before leaving. "Now my son, Simon and Jeanette Miller would like to say a few words about their siblings." Dave immediately retreated.

I looked at Simon, knowing what we were about to do. He looked into my eyes and we kissed. It was one last bit of comfort and love, before we did what we came there to do.

Simon began, "I am here today to honor my siblings and friends. To do this, I would like to tell you a story. Normally, you may be expecting a happy story of how they were a great group of friends and family, but this, is not that story. After all, these were not normal circumstances. I owe this story to you. I owe all of you the truth."

I interjected, "We both do."


	2. The Sales Pitch

**Chapter 2: The Sales Pitch**

**Simon's POV**

**Three weeks before 'the incident'**

It was 6:00 in the morning on a Monday, and we were all getting ready for school, well most of us.

Theodore was standing by the red bed, "Get up already."

I tried to help the best I could, but there wasn't any point in it. After all, we still had 50 minutes until we had to leave for school, which for Alvin, meant he had 45 more minutes to sleep.

Theodore was the exact opposite; he was always up before the alarm even went off. As he put it, "The quicker I get up, the quicker I eat breakfast, and that's one of my three favorite meals".

Actually, Alvin was quite good about getting up that morning. He must have been up 15 minutes before we left. I know this because we weren't walking towards the door when we finally heard "What time is it?" from our bedroom. Of course, him getting up 'so early' probably had something to do with the fact that it was only two weeks until our sixteenth birthday, which meant he was down to two more weeks to whine for a car.

Dave had figured out the perfect way to deal with Alvin around his birthday, and Christmas, and Easter, and any other time he thought he could con an expensive gift out of Dave. He started this routine of pointing out to Alvin that if he wanted whatever it was that he 'had to have' that week, he needed to be on his best behavior, and show Dave he deserved it. The only thing that frightened Dave was that Alvin may actually decide to act normal if it meant he could get a car.

"It will save you time and money," Alvin argued.

"Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what it costs to insure a sixteen year old in a new car?" Dave replied.

"Okay never mind about the saving money thing, but it may save somebody's life."

Dave had to hear this one.

"Picture this, Simon is down in his lab and he mixes some wrong chemicals and blows himself up…"

I had to interject, "I would never be irresponsible enough to mix unknown substances".

Alvin continued, "Okay fine so he trips and knocks over his experiment and blows himself up, or do you want to try and say that you aren't clumsy?"

"Anyway" Dave said between the bickering.

"Right, so he blows himself up and you are off at work. If I had a car I could take him to the emergency room and save his life. If I don't have a car, he will bleed to death in the basement." Alvin was sure this lovely sentiment would bring Dave around.

"I have three words for you Alvin," Dave said.

"It isn't 'what color convertible' by any chance is it?" Alvin had a hopeful look in his eye.

"No it's 'nine-one-one'. If you really want a car, you will stop whining for a car, and start showing me that you deserve one."

With this, Dave ended the conversation and sent us off to school.


	3. The Science Fair

**Chapter 3: The Science Fair**

**Simon's POV**

**Three weeks before 'the incident'.**

We finally made it to school that day after listening to another hour of Alvin's whining. "I just have to have a car. I'll die without a car."

I had to stop the moaning. "Alvin, no matter how much you grumble about wanting a car, it isn't going to change Dave's mind. You will either get one or you won't, but nothing you say will change that."

"You're right, Si. But Dave just doesn't understand how bad a sixteen year old needs a car nowadays."

Theodore tried to help. "I don't understand why you want a car anyway Alvin. Once you have a car, Dave won't drive you places, and you won't get to spend as much time with him. Plus, if you start driving to school yourself, you won't get a good-luck hug before your first class."

If anything, Theodore was making me want to get a car. "I don't think you're helping, Theo. Come one we're going to be late for science class".

We all walked to the class, Alvin still shivering in fear with the thought of himself in his thirties getting a hug and kiss before work from Dave.

The bell rang and Mrs. Hammond walked in front of the room. "Okay class. Today is a very special day. Today, we are going to be talking about this year's science fair."

Jeanette and I immediately shot up in our seats with anticipation. As usual, Theodore and Eleanor were worried about what they could do for the fair. Also as usual, Brittney and Alvin were sleeping through the announcement of the fair.

Mrs. Hammond continued, "However, it isn't going to be a normal fair. Instead, this year, everybody is going to present their most creative and useful invention. There are no rules except that it has to be useful, creative…" She then slammed her yard stick on Alvin and Brittney's desks waking them up. Looking directly at them, she added "and school appropriate." Looking back at the rest of the class, she said, "Since we are in the last month of classes, we will spend the rest of the semester on these projects. Now everybody needs to break into partners for the project."

Of course if there was one thing that was easy with our group it was breaking into partners. Jeannette and I were always partners because it was the only way we could avoid doing the entire project ourselves. Eleanor and Theodore were partners because it was the only way they could ensure their project would be about food. And of course Brittney and Alvin were partners because everybody else in class paired up during their nap.

Mrs. Hammond added one last note, "I almost forgot to mention, the students who come up with the best invention will go to New York for the National Inventors Competition."

With this announcement, Jeannette and I immediately got to work. Most of the class had trouble thinking of what they would make for the contest. However, Jeannette and I knew right away. It was something we had discussed for months, and we knew this was our chance. That was when it all started.


	4. The Work in the Laboratory

**Chapter 4: The Work in the Laboratory**

**Jeanette's POV**

**Three weeks before 'the incident'.**

After school, Simon and I immediately went to his house to work on our project. We had talked about making this for months, theorizing about it, but we didn't think we would actually make it. Maybe it was the excitement of the competition or maybe it was just an excuse to build what would surely make us both scientific legends, but we knew that we could make 'it'.

We worked on the project every day after school, making sure it was really a possibility. After a week of preparation, we began to build 'it'.

**Two week before 'the incident'.**

I could hear Alvin up stairs bickering with Dave over a car, but that didn't really concern me. I was consumed by my work, as was Simon. We had finally begun to build. We knew that it wasn't the construction that would take time. What worried us was the testing. With this type of a project, it is difficult to find a safe way to make sure that it actually works as planned. However, that wasn't our focus. We were only concerned with one thing. Building our dream.

Later that day, Alvin had come down, apparently after he had grown tired of bugging Dave for a car. He saw what we were working on and immediately grew an interest, for an obvious reason.

Alvin shouted "I have spent the past month pulling every line I know on Dave to get a car, and you two are down here building one?"

Simon tried to explain, "This is not a car. It may look like one, it even sort of works like one, but it is not a car." In a very serious tone he said "And you are, under no circumstances, to ever step foot into it."

Alvin pleaded, "If it isn't a car, what is it."

Not wanting to reveal what it was, Jeanette and I looked at each other trying to figure out what excuse to give Alvin to shut him up. We had none. Finally, I looked at him and said, "I will tell you what it is, but you are not to tell anybody."

Alvin excited at the idea of having something to taunt Simon with, immediately replied "I won't tell anybody".

I started to tell him what it was and he interjected, with his normal, stupid behavior. "Yeah, I won't tell anybody about your dirty little secret Si, if you help me get a car."

I replied "You know, you really should have waited for me to tell you the secret before blackmailing me with it."

Alvin, realizing his stupidity went up the stairs. I was furious that he had barged in on us while we were working. However, our secret was safe, and that is all that mattered to us.


	5. The Big Day

**Chapter 5: The Big Day**

**Jeanette's POV**

**One week before 'the incident'.**

That day seemed to be the happiest in his life. Not only was it Simon's birthday, but we were putting the finishing touches on our experiment. Today, it would be finished and I could finally reveal what it was to our families.

I had hardly seen my family the past two weeks. We both spend every moment we had working on our project. It even got to the point where I stopped coming home at night. We would just work down stairs in the lab until we fell asleep. If it had been Eleanor or Brittney, Ms. Miller or Dave would have been worried, but they knew how Simon and I felt about science. They knew that we were working on something big, and wouldn't rest until it was finished.

Today though, we were all going to be together. My family came over to Simon's house for a small, intimate birthday party for the three Chipmunks. Frankly, I think that everyone was a little concerned about what we were making, so it was a relief that we would finally get to reveal it that day.

"Alvin, what's wrong?" Dave said.

"I didn't see my present".

"Of course not, I haven't given it to you yet." Dave explained, in a confused tone of voice.

"If I got what I wanted" Alvin replied, "You wouldn't have been able to hide it from me".

"Before we start the party, I really would like to hear how everybody's inventions are going. Simon, why don't you and Jeanette start?" Dave asked.

We both interrupted in unison, "No let Eleanor and Theodore go first".

"Okay" Theodore said.

"We invented the Eggomatic 2000" Eleanor said with glee. "It makes the perfect omelet every time and even had a timer built in to tell you when to flip it."

Alvin interrupted, "Yeah, omelets, very original guys".

Dave looked at Alvin with fury. "Alvin, stop it. I think it is a marvelous invention. Maybe Eleanor can come over tomorrow morning and you two can try it out?"

Theodore, still upset from Alvin's sarcasm was only able to get out a few words between sniffles, "Yeah… okay Dave."

The floor turned to Alvin and Brittney.

"So what is your invention?" Dave asked.

"Umm. We aren't really completely done yet." Alvin said.

"Well just tell us about it, you still have plenty of time to finish".

"Well, we don't exactly have all the planning done either" Brittney explained.

"You mean the two of you were goofing off and never did your project" Dave said sternly.

Alvin tried to weasel his way out saying, "We were preoccupied with other things."

Looking at Alvin, Dave said "I know, and it has four wheels and an open top." He continued, "For your information, Alvin, I was going to get you a car for your birthday. I have been planning on it for months. That was until I got a call from a Mrs. Hammond that you were sleeping in class. Even then I still was going to get you the car, but then I heard about you interrupting Simon during his experiment. With all of that, I was still going to take you to a lot today and buy you a car. I probably would even have gotten you that car despite the horrible comment you just made to Theodore. However, when I hear that you haven't even started the project, I know one thing. You are not responsible enough to handle a car."

Alvin shed a tear at the loss of his friend which he had not even met, and immediately started to con Dave again. He spent the rest of the day pleading, "I'll behave! I'll change!" However, none of this even fazed Dave in the least.

We were all still at the Seville house for dinner, and that is when Dave remembered me and Simon.

"We never heard about your big experiment guys." Dave told us.

Simon looked at Dave with excitement that he would finally be able to reveal his invention. Simon replied, "Let us show you."


	6. The Big Reveal

**Chapter 6: The Big Reveal**

**Simon's POV**

**One week before 'the incident'.**

We led everybody down to the basement where we had our makeshift laboratory. There they could see a large object underneath a tarp. I looked at the small crowd and exclaimed, "Jeannette and I have created something that will revolutionize science. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the first working time machine."

The reactions were quite unusual, but not unexpected, to our reveal. Alvin and Brittney both looked at us like we were out of our mind.

"I take back everything I said Theo, at least your project actually has a chance of making an omelet." Alvin proclaimed sarcastically.

Theodore, believing everything his older brother said, immediately was amazed and had full, faith that it would work.

Dave was another story. Being sure that two teenage chipmunks could never pull this off, he looked concerned that our emotions would be shattered if, and when, it didn't work. He said with care, "You know guys, even if this doesn't work, you should keep in mind that scientists have tried to do this for years without success, so there is no harm in failing at it. I am proud that you took on such a huge task."

I looked at Dave and replied, "You are right Dave, many people have tried to travel to another time, but nobody has ever tried to change the time, and that is why our project will work." Responding to looks of confusion, I explained. "Knowing that trying to travel to another simultaneous but displaced time had been tried, we instead have created this machine in a new principle that will alter the time outside the machine, instead of moving the machine to another time."

Realizing the crowd was even more confused, Jeanette explained in more 'Alvin-like' terms. "Let me explain. If you put a movie into the television and it is halfway through, how do you get to the beginning? You can either move to another television that is playing another copy of the movie that is at the beginning, or you can simply hit rewind. Scientists have unsuccessfully tried to travel time by moving to alternate universes where the same events occur at another point of history. Instead, we are simply hitting rewind. This machine will change the time of the universe we are already in. Because of this, it will be able to successfully reverse time."

Slightly less confused but still largely concerned for mine and Jeanette's sanity, Dave concluded the lesson with "Well, I am proud no matter what."

Everybody went upstairs, with Alvin staying behind. He seemed to be interested in our invention, which as usual, scared me to death.


	7. The Plot

**Chapter 7: The Plot**

**Simon's POV**

**One week before 'the incident'.**

"So when are you guys planning on testing it?" Alvin asked.

I responded to this, unprovoked interest in science, "Are you really interested or are you just here to make some more jokes about our work?"

"I really am interested." Alvin's sincerity was sweet which Jeanette found to be wonderful, and I found to be horrifying.

Jeanette interjected, "That is one of the major moral dilemmas we have. Any changes in history, no matter how small, could have drastic effects on the future. However, if we don't go back in time, and make some small change, we won't know if we truly traveled in time when we come back."

Alvin, yelled out, "Wait I've got it."

I looked at him with confusion.

"You don't want to make any large changes to the future, but what if you made one tiny change that could only help the future?"

I responded, "How would we know it would only benefit the future?"

He answered, "Say for instance, someone were to go back in time and not make a rude comment to someone. It is small enough to not have any large effects on the future, but identifiable enough to know if you traveled back in time."

"That may actually work," I responded with confusion at Alvin's sudden intelligence. "I can't think of anything that small though. At least nothing Jeanette or I have done in the past few hours."

Alvin replied, "Why can you only go back a few hours?"

Jeanette answered, "The further we go back, the greater the chance that we will cause rifts in the space time continuum. Also, we can only go back in time, so if we go back further, we will have a larger risk of not doing something in the same way, and altering the future."

"If you don't mind, I have something I would like to take back, if you would allow me to be the one to test it."

Jeanette with concern said, "What is it?"

"I would really like to go back and not make that comment about Theo's invention. What harm could that do?"

Seeming like a harmless task, I foolishly allowed Alvin to test the machine after a full lesson in safety protocol.

In order to keep track of any changes, and have full proof of its success, all three of us would go back and take back those comments.


	8. The Trip

**Chapter 8: The Trip**

**Jeanette's POV**

**One week before 'the incident'.**

Simon always told me to watch out when it comes to Alvin. He said that Alvin always has a trick up his sleeve. I didn't think there was anything but genuine concern for Theodore at stake, but I was so wrong.

We all went into the machine early in the morning the next day. Since our machine only had the ability to move back in time, we would have to go back and actually relive the past day.

Alvin came down to the basement, ready for the big test. "How do we know that we won't end up having two of us there?"

Looking up at Alvin from his desk, horrified at the idea of a second Alvin, Simon answered, "The machine is built to reverse time, not create clones. As we go back, everything will reverse itself, except the location of any person in the machine. An inanimate object could be duplicated through this process, but not a life." Simon thought a little about what he just said. "Alvin, give me your wallet."

Alvin didn't like the idea of parting with his money. "Why?"

"I'm not going back in time for you to double your bank-roll."

Alvin handed over his wallet.

"I just had a thought," Alvin said.

"For once," Simon replied sarcastically.

He answered, "Seriously, if something goes wrong, I may need to use the controls myself, don't you think you should show me exactly how to travel back in time with this machine?"

"He's right" I said. With that, I proceeded to give him a crash course in time machine mechanics. After a brief lesson, we decided to make the big test. Simon set the dials to bring us back to exactly 30 minutes before the birthday party began, so that Alvin could take back the comment and we could test the machine.

Without our knowledge, however, Alvin had other plans. He took it upon himself to make a little detour, and reset the controls for two weeks ago.

Simon turned the machine on, unaware of Alvin's 'adjustment', and we arrived at the destination as we thought. Alvin was in disbelief that it actually worked, but had a sense of excitement over himself. As we got out of the machine, Simon and I looked on the ground, noticing a newspaper that revealed the true date.

"How could you!" Simon yelled. "You had no right to change the destination without consulting us. I knew from the beginning that I shouldn't trust you with this machine, now I want to know what you are planning and I want to know now!"

"Like I said before, Si, I want to take back that comment about Theo, but I figure while I am at it I might as well correct a few other things like falling asleep in class, not doing my project, and everything else that screwed up getting that car."

"All this over a stupid car! How could you endanger us over a car!" Simon continued to yell towards Alvin but it was no use.

Alvin ignored Simon and ran off to start making up for his mistakes over the past few weeks.


	9. The Changes

**Chapter 9: The Changes**

**Simon's POV**

**One week before 'the incident'.**

We have spent the past two weeks watching Alvin undo his stupidity, fearing what may result from these changes. Being the only people known to have traveled time, we had no idea the consequences of even minor changes. With Alvin, I have no clue what he is doing. I was sure to do everything exactly like I did it before, even answering a question wrong on a test on purpose, while Alvin was out changing the future. As I was in school making sure I ate my lunch in the correct order, he was probably out making a bundle at a race track.

The time came where we were finally almost back to the day we started. We were at the birthday party… again.

"Before we start the party, I really would like to hear how everybody's inventions are going. Simon, why don't you and Jeanette start?" Dave asked… again.

Just as before we both interrupted in unison, "No let Eleanor and Theodore go first".

"Okay" Theodore said.

"We invented the Eggomatic 2000" Eleanor said with glee. "It makes the perfect Omelet every time and even had a timer built in to tell you when to flip it."

"Wow that's fantastic" Alvin interrupted. "I wouldn't be surprised if you won that trip to New York."

Dave replied, "I love it too." He took Alvin aside. "I know you have been wanting a car, and to tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if you were responsible enough to handle it, but seeing how kind and responsible you have become these past two weeks, I have decided to take you out this afternoon to go car shopping."

Alvin responded, "If you are sure it isn't too extravagant of a gift, father, I accept."

Jeanette and I both rolled our eyes at this subtle display.

Several hours later, Alvin and Dave returned with a shiny red convertible. Inevitably to match the color that would be pouring out of Alvin when I got through with him. One thing I knew though. I could never allow anybody to have this technology.


	10. The Solution

**Chapter 10: The Solution**

**Jeanette's POV**

**Five days before 'the incident'.**

Simon and I talked it over for the past two days, and we decided that this technology could never be used again. We photographed the machine, wrote our report about the findings and the successes, and then proceeded to destroy the machine. I have never seen Simon so devastated. His dream was to invent something as coveted as this. He would have been known for all of history, but if his own brother would be so selfish with this technology, he knew that he could not entrust it to anybody.

After we had finished destroying our work, I wanted to comfort Simon. "It's okay Simon. Maybe we can invent something that will have a little less potential of destroying Earth."

This caused both of us to laugh, but it was little comfort to the end of months of hard work and the end of our dreams of being famous scientists.

Simon began to cry to himself quietly, sitting on a pile of what used to be our greatest invention. I looked at Simon and said, "Simon, I know you are upset over the machine, but there is something else bothering you."

"It's nothing." He replied.

"If it is nothing you wouldn't be crying. Now please, let me know what is bothering you."

He looked up with a single tear running down his cheek, "None of us know what could result from Alvin's behavior. Did we do the right thing by destroying the machine? What if we need it to fix something he did?"

I looked at him, "Simon, nobody knows the future. What will happen with what Alvin did is just as unpredictable as what it would have been. Going back and stopping him would only cause more rifts in time, and would only endanger the world more. We did the right thing. You did the right thing."

This seemed to comfort him. He leaned his head on my shoulder, and said something I absolutely didn't expect.

"I don't know what I would do without you. I love you Jeanette."

I blushed at this and was a little startled. I had feelings for Simon for years, but I never acted on them, and neither did he. I looked at him and said the only thing that I could think of. The truth. "I love you too".

I don't know if it was the fact that we both had our dreams crushed and needed comfort from each other or the fact that we had spent weeks continually at each other's side. However, it was clear that out of all the frustration Alvin caused us with his stunt. At least one good thing came out of this extravaganza. We knew that we loved each other. Well, really we already knew that. However, we had finally admitted it.


	11. The Incident

**Chapter 11: The Incident**

**Simon's POV**

**The morning after 'the incident'.**

Jeanette had made a routine of coming over every day so that we could start working on our new experiment for the project, unbreakable eyeglasses, something both of us could use in real life.

We had both fallen asleep in my lab early the in the evening the day before. That morning we woke up to the sound of Dave gently shaking us awake. It was unusual for him to be up at 5:00 when we got up for school, but it was also unusual for me and Jeanette to be sleeping in the basement over 5 dozen pairs of broken glasses.

He sat us up and said, "Simon, Jeanette, I want to tell you something."

I looked up at him with concern since he generally wasn't this mysterious.

"Last night, while you were sleeping, Alvin, Brittney, Eleanor and Theodore all went to the mall."

I sarcastically replied, "That is one riveting story Dave, can we talk about it over breakfast."

"Simon, there was an accident. A car accident."

Concerned, Jeanette yelled, "Are they at the hospital, are they okay!"

"They aren't at the hospital. They didn't make it to the hospital."

"Who didn't make it? What do you mean?" I exclaimed.

"All of them. The truck hit them on the driver's side. Alvin and Eleanor…" Dave paused for a moment, "…were killed instantly. Brittney and Theodore didn't make it to the hospital before passing on."

My heart sank. I had fears that something bad may have resulted from Alvin's time travel, but it never even occurred to me that something this bad could have happened.

Dave began to weep uncontrollably, saying, "It's all my fault. I should never have bought him that stupid car. I knew he wasn't ready for it, but I just wanted to make him happy."

**At the funeral.**

"It was with this comment from Dave that I knew what I had to do. We knew what we had to do. We knew that we had to confess to our involvement in this incident. It was not Dave's fault. It was mine."

"No. It was ours" Jeanette added.

Dave returned to the two weeping chipmunks and embraced us. "It is nobody's fault. It's all over now. There is nothing any of us can do."

Then it occurred to me, not what I could do, but what I had to do. I exclaimed, "That isn't true, there is something one of us can do. I can fix this. I can bring them back."

With that, I hugged my dear Jeanette, and whispered in her ear, "I must do it. For my family. For our family."

"We have talked about this, but if you feel you have no choice I will help you," Jeanette explained.

"I know this is something I have to do, but I don't want you to help. I want to take this responsibility on by myself," I answered.

Jeanette uncharacteristically grabbed me and turned me around. "If I didn't help you, that wouldn't say much about my love for you."

I started to cry again. "I can't risk… I can't risk losing you too. I don't know what is going to happen. This is my responsibility not yours."

"Simon! Stop trying to take all the blame. We both did this, and we both will fix it. Together. Besides, that is how we belong. Together."

With that, we left the funeral, went to my lab, and began work, on 'Operation Resurrection'.


	12. The Rebuild

**Chapter 12: The Rebuild**

**Jeanette's POV**

**The next morning.**

I never saw him like this before. He was trying to focus on his work, but that was only in between tears. There were a lot of decisions to be made. For one, we needed to figure out when we wanted to go back to. The longer we went back, the greater chance we had of causing problems in the future. However, the less we went back, the greater the risk was that we would be unsuccessful in our mission.

Our first idea was to go back to when we built the machine and simply not build it. However, it was too long ago, and too great a risk. Plus, we had no way of knowing if undoing the building of the time machine would undo the changes Alvin made.

Our second idea was to go back to when Alvin left for the mall and stop him. This was the opposite of the first. We knew that it was a short enough time ago that we could avoid major changes to the timeline, but with Alvin's hard head, we had no way of knowing if we could stop him.

Every possible point of return had flaws. We were stuck and confused. Most people know that when a loved one is gone, they cannot bring them back. We, unfortunately, did not have that comfort. We knew we could not rest until we brought them back. Whether it was days or years from now.

Simon stopped working and looked at Jeanette. "Are we doing the right thing? We have no idea what stopping that accident will do."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It was a busy road. Someone was going to get in an accident. What right do we have to choose who lives and who dies?"

"Simon, we don't have the right. But we didn't have the right to build this machine that caused Alvin to get the car in the first place. None of this was supposed to happen. We aren't causing someone else to get hit; we are correcting a mistake we made."

Simon looked down crying. "I'm just worried. I mean, it could end up hitting a bus full of children."

"Or it may not hit anything. Nobody knows what is going to happen. I'm not saying that this is an easy decision, but just remember that it wasn't supposed to be like this in the first place."

Simon looked back up at me, seemingly more comfortable with the decision we were about to make, "Okay, but if we are going to go back, we need to make sure that we convince Alvin not to go down that road at any cost. We can't risk going back unless we are certain we will succeed."

"I have a plan. We will go back to the basement about half an hour before they left. You spend that half hour convincing Alvin to not go to the mall. While you do that, I will go to the mall as backup."

Simon stopped working again to think of the plan. "Okay. Take your cell phone with you, and I will call you if I can't persuade him. If I call you, do whatever you can to divert them from that route on their way home."

We traveled back in time to just prior to our siblings leaving the house. Since nobody including Dave would know of what was about to occur, we knew it would take a lot of explaining, but we had to try.

I had confidence in Simon's ability to persuade, but I was concerned about Alvin's ability to listen. I had to make another plan, something that didn't just revolve around us trying to persuade him. My plan, however, was something I could not even tell Simon of. As much as he wanted this to work, he would never have allowed me to make the choice I did.


	13. The Operation

**Chapter 13: The Operation**

**Simon's POV**

**The night of 'the incident'.**

We had arrived back in my lab, two hours before the incident. I immediately ran up the stairs and screamed "Alvin!" Alvin came down the stairs, thinking it was Dave calling by the tone and decibel level. Behind him was Theodore. I ran towards the pair and hugged them. They of course thought I had lost my mind, but that didn't matter to me.

Jeanette came up from the stairs behind me, similarly overjoyed to see the two again.

Alvin in his usual way said to us, "So did you two have a nice nap? Aren't those different clothes than you went down there wearing? You don't think your fooling us with that old phony 'fell asleep doing homework' routine do you? I have to give you credit Si, I didn't think you had it in you."

None of it mattered though. Honestly, he could have made the most horrendous comment he could think of and it wouldn't have broken the joy of seeing my family again.

Jeanette left the house to go to her destination, the mall. I was left with the burden of trying to figure out how to stop Alvin. I couldn't very well scream 'don't go to the mall you will get in a car accident and kill my family' but that is exactly what I wanted to do. Instead, I sat Alvin down and decided to explain everything from the beginning.

"Alvin, I didn't just wake up downstairs."

"I figured as much, how was it?" He replied sarcastically.

"Stop, I need to say this and don't interrupt me. I am from the future. About a week from now."

"I thought you and Jeanette destroyed that thing?"

"It's more complicated than that," I answered. "Let me prove it to you. You are going to the mall today and Theodore, Eleanor, and Brittney are going to come with you, right?"

"Okay that's a little creepy" Alvin said with a quiet tone.

"Where I come from, you don't come back from that mall. You get into… sort of a car accident."

Confused, Alvin says, "What do you mean, 'sort of a car accident'".

"You are killed in an accident coming home from the mall."

Freaked out Alvin stormed out of the room. He turned around and yelled, "I know you are upset about me using your stupid time machine but you don't have to make up a story like that just to get even."

I ran after him, but it was too late. He had already left for the mall, with Theodore.

It was all up to Jeanette now.


	14. The Backup

**Chapter 14: The Backup**

**Jeanette's POV**

**The night of 'the incident'.**

Simon and I had made the plans of what I was to do if he couldn't stop him from leaving. However, I couldn't risk just trying to talk Alvin down again. I knew what I had to do. Wandering in the mall, hoping and praying that I didn't get that call, I did. My phone rang and it was Simon. He wasn't successful.

I knew what I had to do. I saw Eleanor and Brittney come in to the mall, and walk towards the benches in the center. From the other side, I saw Alvin and Theodore walking towards them. Based on the information we had from Dave, they left the mall about one hour from now. That gave me just enough time to do what I needed to do.

I first tried the original plan. I went downstairs, and talked to Brittney and Alvin.

"Jeanette? What are you doing here?" Brittney said.

"Alvin knows why I am here, don't you?" I replied.

Brittney answered, "Alvin, what is she talking about?"

"Nothing. Her and Si are trying to pull a prank on us. Remember that stupid time machine thing."

"Yeah?" Brittney replied.

"They claim that it works and they are here from the future because we are going to get into a car accident."

Brittney shouted in terror, "What!"

I screamed, "Alvin, you know as well as I do that it works. Admit it. People's lives are at stake. Your life is at stake."

Brittney seemed confused and horrified at what she was hearing, but Alvin pulled her away and walked off ignoring us. There was nothing I could do to convince him. His sure of himself personality would soon cost him and his friends their last chance at survival.

With that, I knew it was time for my backup plan, the final plan. Something I didn't want to do, but was willing to do to save my family.

My plan was simple. Simon was right, that truck struck Alvin as he was going down a busy road and someone was going to get hit by that truck. I would make sure, it was not my family. I would make sure that it was me.


	15. The Final Plan

**Chapter 15: The Final Plan**

**Jeanette's POV**

**The night of 'the incident'.**

The first thing I needed to do was get a car. Luckily, I had a feeling that the plan would come to this, so I brought the key to Alvin's car from our time. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the key. The key still had stains of blood from Alvin on it.

I knew that it was time to go. Time to save my family.

However, I had one task that had to be completed first. I had to call Simon, and say goodbye. Given the fact that he had no car at the house that he could steal, I knew he wouldn't be able to stop me this close to the time of the accident. So it was safe to call him, and say goodbye.

I pulled out my cell phone, and called Simon.

"Jeanette? Did you stop them" he answered.

"No. But I am going to. Don't worry." I replied

"Why did you call, you are running out of time."

"Your brothers and my sisters will be fine. I called, to say… goodbye."

Immediately, Simon figured out what I was planning.

"Jeanette, there has to be another way of solving this dilemma. I can't live without you."

"Goodbye. I love you. With all my heart, I love you." I hung up the phone and left to execute the final plan.

I continued to receive calls from him, but I ignored them. After all, absolutely nothing was stopping me.

I walked outside and stuck my key in the door of the car. Just then I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I knew who it was. It was Simon there to stop me. Overwhelmed, I turned around an immediately started to cry into his shoulder. That was, until I looked up.

"Where did you get a key to my car?" Alvin said. "And where are you planning on taking it, you can't even drive. For that matter you have trouble even walking."

He looked down at the key, pulled it out of the door and fell to his knees. He pulled his personalized, monogramed key out of his pocket and saw they were completely identical. Seeing the bloodstained key, identical to his own, he realized the truth. That he was going to be killed.

He looked up at me, and said "You were going to take my place, weren't you?"

I shook my head and cried with him. Just then, he looked at me and said, "I am going to get the others, we are going to shop a little more, and the four of us will go home on the longer route. Don't worry."

Overwhelmed with joy at the unexpected success, I went home, forgetting to call Simon about the good news.


	16. The Resurrection

**Chapter 16: The Resurrection**

**Simon's POV**

**The night of 'the incident'.**

I heard the front door open and saw her. My Jeanette. I ran to her, and held her in my arms, relieved that she was safe. "I thought I lost you. What made you change your mind?"

"Alvin did. He's taking a different route."

Simon overwhelmed at the fact that he knew his family was safe, let out a sigh of relief. The two of us went down stairs to the basement to wait for the return of our family. Worn from everything that had happened we immediately fell asleep.

**The morning after 'the incident'.**

I woke up early the next morning, and saw the door of the basement starting to open. Dave came down the stairs. He shook me and Jeanette awake, and we calmly stood up and said good morning to him.

He looked at us and said, "Simon, Jeanette, I want to tell you something. Last night, while you were sleeping, Alvin, Brittney, Eleanor and Theodore all went to the mall".

"That is one riveting story Dave, can we talk about it over…." I stopped. It was happening again. The same words from Dave. The same stupid sarcastic comment from me. I looked at him and said, "What happened?"

"Simon, there was an accident. A car accident."

It happened again. All of our work. All of our tears for nothing. I had figured out what happened. Alvin wasn't going to drive on the road where the accident occurred. He was destined to go down that road, because Jeanette and I were destined to come back and tell him to take another path home. We were the reason he went in front of that truck. I have never been a person to believe in destiny. Obviously, I was mistaken.

As Jeanette and I cried into each other's arms, Jeanette cried out, "Why did we have to lose them again? Why did they have to die?"

With that, Dave interjected. "What are the two of you talking about, they are fine."

In complete confusion, we looked up.

He continued, "Just the front corner of the car was hit, they have some bumps and bruises but are absolutely fine. If they had been there one second earlier, it would have been a different story. As a matter of fact they are upstairs now. And I thought Brittney and Alvin were overdramatic."

With laughter we ran up the stairs trying to figure out what happened. I had to talk to Alvin.

"Alvin, this is so confusing. Everything happened just like before, but you are fine now."

Alvin hugged his brother looked him in the eye and said, "There's no mystery. After I got done talking to Jeanette, I shoved my key in the wrong pocket. It delayed me, by exactly one second."


	17. The Aftermath

**Chapter 17: The Aftermath**

**Nobody's POV**

**Today.**

"And that's what happened."

Brittney looked up at Jeanette in complete confusion. "So Alvin killed me?"

"Yup" Simon replied in an oddly calm fashion.

Brittney proceeded to smack Alvin on the back of the head. "That's for your lousy driving."

Eleanor sat up, pointing out "I can't believe Jeanette was going to give her life to save us."

Simon, feeling the need to point it out, said, "I can't believe Alvin cried like a girl when he found that out." Simon continued, "Hey Alvin, speaking of Jeanette." He too proceeded to smack Alvin on the head. "That's for that comment when we came out of the basement."

Alvin, feeling sore from the continual head smacking said, "You know I was dead too."

"It just occurred to me." Brittney shouted

Eleanor answered, "What?"

She finished her sentence saying, "He let us get in the car with him after he figured out he was destined to get us all killed."

Eleanor proceeded to smack Alvin on the back of the head, "Yeah, that's for not calling us a cab." She started to sit back down, but then got up and hit Alvin again, "And that's for making fun of the Eggomatic."

Changing the subject, Simon said, "Well one good thing came out of all this."

Instantly confused by what good could have possibly come from this incident, Alvin asked, "What good could have possibly come from the world almost losing me?"

"Jeanette and I had to go back in time to save all of you. That means we are the oldest now."

Alvin and Brittney looked at their siblings completely silent, stunned that they just lost the title that was seemingly impossible to lose.

"Well you guys better get to bed, you have that science fair tomorrow. Is everybody ready?"

"We have the Eggomatic ready!" Theodore said with excitement.

"We're as ready as we'll ever be." Brittney said without excitement.

Simon's face suddenly became pale at the reminder of the science fair.

"What's wrong Si?" Alvin asked.

"Well, we kind of got excused from the science fair since you all died, but now we don't have that excuse."

"Well I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you. Me and Brittney are all ready." Alvin added.

"First off, it is 'Brittney and I', and the only reason you are ready is because you used my time machine." Simon explained.

"So what are we going to turn in tomorrow?" Jeanette added, worried about her 4.0 gpa.

"We'll go look downstairs, I guess we will just have to use something we did in our spare time."

Brittney and Alvin both stared at them with disgust. Brittney commented, "Only those two would have spare science experiments lying around."

Dave headed up the stairs to go to bed. He turned around and said, "Alvin, I almost forgot to mention something."

Alvin looked up and said, "What is it?"

"You're grounded; give me your car keys."

"How can I get grounded for something that happened in another dimension?"

"It wasn't another dimension; it was an alternate reality but…" Simon said before he was cut off by Alvin.

"I don't care Si."

"Come on give me the keys." Dave shouted.

Alvin tossed up a key to Dave.

Dave started to leave and turned around. "And the spare key."

Alvin reluctantly tossed up the second key. Again, Dave continued walking up the stairs, and stopped at the top.

"And the one Jeanette gave you from the future." Alvin, losing his last chance at driving his car tossed the final key up to his father.

"Simon, you're the oldest, do you want to use Alvin's car while he's grounded?" Dave asked.

Alvin glared at Dave, unamused by Dave's reminder.

"Honestly, I would prefer that none of us ever drive in that death trap again." Simon walked over to Jeanette and saw she was still concerned about the science fair. He gave her a kiss and said, "Don't worry my love, it will all work out. Come on, let's go pick out our project."

As they started to walk away, Brittney commented to Alvin, "Did I hear wrong or did Simon just call my sister, 'my love'? I get that they got close and all but this is ridiculous!"

Jeanette turned around to her sister, "Did we forget to mention that part of the story? We're dating now."

Eleanor and Theodore looked at each other and let out a simultaneous, "Awww."

Baffled Alvin turned back to Brittney, "What on Earth happened in the future?"

"I have no idea" Brittney responded.

With that, Dave, Alvin, and Theodore went off to bed. Ms. Miller, Brittney, and Eleanor waited in the car for Jeanette and Simon to finish picking their experiment for the fair the next morning.

Jeanette and Simon began to look for a project. Immediately, they saw the pile of broken eyeglasses, reminding them of that morning they heard of their family. Both shed a tear remembering that day, but it was clear that both of them were happy that they didn't have to grieve anymore.

After a few more minutes of looking around, they found an invention appropriate for the contest and Jeanette started to leave the basement. As Jeanette walked up the stairs preparing to leave, Simon grabbed her by the shoulder for one last goodbye. After all, they hadn't left each other's side for more than a couple hours since the incident occurred.

He looked at Jeanette and said to her, "I love you, my Jeanette. I want you to know that I truly do love you." She looked at him and said, "I will always love you, Simon." She continued to leave. Simon sat down for the first time in weeks, completely happy.

As he walked towards his bedroom to get a much needed night sleep, he thought once more of his brothers as he looked at his their experiments sitting on the table. He looked at Alvin's and realized he had made a shockingly similar invention for the 7th grade science fair.

Connecting the dots, he walked into his room saying a few last words to his brother before heading to bed.

"Alvin, I'm going to kill you."


End file.
